Zelle, the US-based P2P payments service, is expanding its network to India, making the country the first place that Zelle will enable US consumers to send remittances to. Here, we take a look into the decision to expand internationally and Zelle’s key competitors in the market.
Zelle is targeting one of the largest remittance-receiving countries in the world and the US, which sends one of the largest volumes of remittances to India, is already home to a large number of digital-first money transfer providers that Zelle looks set to begin competing with.
While all of the major players in the space offer direct bank deposits to India, the most common delivery method, some (including Remitly, Wise and Xoom) have integrated UPI, India’s instant domestic payment system. This enables users to send funds directly to a recipient’s UPI-linked account, offering an often faster alternative to bank deposits for smaller send amounts. MoneyGram and Ria Money Transfer are also among those that offer cash pickup as a delivery option – but both also enable transfers to local mobile wallets such as Paytm.
Zelle is planning to add its own service to the mix, with Early Warning Services, the operator behind the payment network, expecting to launch this international offering by the end of the year. Although Zelle’s announcement does not detail its planned delivery methods, it will be going up against companies that have spent years refining their offering for one of the largest remittance markets globally.
Although the network has not enabled cross-border transactions in the past, this decision to expand comes after rapid growth since its launch in 2017. In that time, the network has grown from $75bn in annual payments volume to $1.2tn in 2025 – a 41% CAGR. Meanwhile, Zelle has reported slightly faster growth in its total number of annual transactions, rising from 247 million in 2017 to 4.2 billion in 2025 – a 43% CAGR. This growth gives it a strong base to meaningfully compete with other remittance providers, given it already reaches over 160 million bank and credit union accounts in the US.
Zelle has also announced plans to launch a USD-backed stablecoin dubbed ZelleUSD, which it says will support future expansion into other international markets, eventually giving US consumers the option to send money to more locations worldwide. This comes at a time when many other remittance and money transfer companies are developing their own stablecoin offerings, including MoneyGram’s MGUSD, announced earlier this month.
